Our Readers Write

June 30, 2010

No sympathy for 'no walk' LCHS graduate

After reading the letter to the editor from the mother of a La Cañada High School senior who was not allowed to walk at his commencement exercises due to excessive absences, I'm having trouble controlling myself to write an articulate letter.

The child had absences that were "excused or not." I'm sure La Cañada High has some rules in place that deal with this sort of thing. That child broke them, plain and simple. He needs to take responsibility for his actions. Why was the parent defending his irresponsibility?

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It's parents like these that make teaching and administrating schools a miserable experience these days. Why do you think La Cañada has such a high turnover rate in higher administrative positions? Too many parents like this.

The child in question here has not learned responsibility, and his parents have not helped by defending him. That kid has a lot of growing up to do.

Athleen Novak

La Cañada Flintridge

Schools' parcel tax committee weighs in

In spring 2009, the residents of La Cañada Flintridge voted for a parcel tax of $150 a year to support our public schools. Subsequently, nine La Cañada citizens were appointed to the Measure LC Parcel Tax Oversight Committee to review the expenditure of these additional tax dollars.

About $900,000 per year will be raised through the parcel tax. La Cañada has about 6,700 parcels, of which 6,100 are subject to the $150 tax. About 600 parcels are exempt, as some senior citizens have opted out, and a few "double" lots are also exempt.

The $900,000 parcel tax revenue is very significant, as the state of California has cut back its funding to our district during these difficult economic times. The state revenue funding is $4,960 per student in 2009-10, much less than the "promised" commitment of $6,390 per student. With 4,000 students in the La Cañada Unified School District, this shortfall amounts to $5.72 million for the 2009-10 school year alone. LCUSD is able to mitigate this shortfall via the parcel tax ($900,000), La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation ($1million), revenue through building leases/rentals ($1.7 million), budget cuts and reserve spending.

Specifically, the parcel tax dollars received in 2009-10 have been allocated toward 13 full-time equivalent teaching and support positions. These personnel work with hundreds of students at the elementary, middle and high school levels.